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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28703277">flour &amp; friendship</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanj_sanj/pseuds/sanj_sanj'>sanj_sanj</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Cooking, Gen, Mentioned Gabriel Agreste, a whole lot of flour, alyadrien being cute bffs, even though they barely get to anything, just friends hanging out</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:07:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,837</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28703277</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanj_sanj/pseuds/sanj_sanj</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alya decides Adrien needs to have a little fun in his life for once, so she decides to attempt to teach him how to cook. With her expertise and her mother's industrial kitchen, this should be a piece of cake... right?</p>
<p>Or Adrien cleans up a mess, and Alya teaches him that not everything is his fault.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Alya Césaire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Miraculous Fanworks Anniversary 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>flour &amp; friendship</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/NOIRequin/gifts">NOIRequin</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Something that seemed like a massive blur slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying to the ground. Adrien groaned and blinked up at the blob sitting on top of him. Around him, the photographers and makeup artists from his shoot were whispering quietly to themselves, their words hushed and intrusive. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t have this get back to his father; what would Gabriel say to his designer clothes or his hair, which had taken a couple of hours to fix up, mussed up by the freshly cut grass? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His father would </span>
  <em>
    <span>flip</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Adrien had to do something before his father found out, find some way to change into some new clothes perhaps, maybe just cut the photoshoot short altogether…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Adrien? Adrien! Are you even listening to me?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He shook his head and blinked again. “Wait, Alya? Is that you?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, yes, it’s me, Sunshine. Who else would it be? Anyways, I’m here to save you from certain doom.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t hear about any akumas nearby. Although, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>would </span>
  </em>
  <span>be the first one to hear about that kind of thing. I mean, except for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Besides, aren’t you the one who just knocked into me and potentially ruined our photoshoot?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you really want to be here anyways? Come on, we’ve got better stuff to do. I’m sure your dad won’t notice if you abandon ship for one day. Heck, he wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t come home one day if it wasn’t for that assistant of his. Now, hurry up, time’s a ticking.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You want to do what now?” Adrien asked suspiciously, his eyebrows furrowing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to teach you, obviously. It’ll probably be a heck of a challenge but I think I can do it. My mom is a chef, you know.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Teach me what?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“To cook, silly. Unless you already know how? Yeah, I didn’t think so. It shouldn’t be too hard, I have plenty of recipes.” Alya smirked up at him. “Believe me, you need this.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Adrien rubbed his hand on his neck nervously. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I wouldn’t want to… blow anything up, y’know. Isn’t this your mom’s kitchen? And at Chloe’s hotel of all places?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well yeah, where else was I supposed to go? Your dad wouldn’t let me within an inch of your place, my sisters are at home with my dad, and my mom’s running a catering job in another city. Besides, this kitchen is </span>
  <em>
    <span>huge</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If you can’t learn how to cook here, you can’t learn how to cook anywhere.” Alya said proudly as she grabbed some pans from a shelf.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“O-Okay, I guess that makes sense? But why today of all days? You practically dragged me away from a photoshoot for this.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Would you really have preferred being at the photoshoot? And then getting home just for your father to never come out of his office? Yeah, again, I didn’t think so.” Alya smiled as she stepped inside the pantry, searching inside for an ingredient.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It just feels random. My father isn’t going to be happy with this, who knows what he could do-” Adrien said frantically, his mind whirring.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alya rested a hand on his shoulder gently. “Hey, Adrien, relax. I promise nothing will happen, alright? The truth is, I just wanted to spend some time with you. We never really hang out as much anymore with your photoshoots - I mean, not that you hang out with other people more than me! I just… want you to have fun. I’ve seen how sad you get at your shoots sometimes, and I just wanted to cheer you up. You don’t need to actually learn anything today - we can just cook something together. Does that sound okay?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Adrien smiled, and the entire room brightened in response. “Yeah, it does. T-Thank you, Alya. For caring.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, sunshine. Now, enough of this sentimental stuff, let’s cook something, yeah?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I told you not to dump all the flour in at once. Now, look what you’ve done. I didn’t think it was even possible for flour to spread that far.” Alya said, pinching the bridge of her nose resignedly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“To be fair, that was a really big bag of flour. We probably should have just taken out what we needed instead of dumping the whole thing in.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s what I told you to do! Use the </span>
  <em>
    <span>measuring cups</span>
  </em>
  <span>? That I laid out beside you? The cups just inches from your fingers ?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, I guess I didn’t hear you.” He said, rubbing his neck sheepishly. “Or maybe I just wasn’t sure which one was the right one to use.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alya groaned loudly. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The once full flour bag was now empty, and barely any of it had actually gone inside the mixing bowl. The rest was scattered across the kitchen and the floors, and covered the both of them. They looked like snowmen in a field of snow.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, at least it looks like snow? Christmas in autumn, I guess.” Adrien said playfully.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alya scoffed and swatted at him. “Sure, it’s pretty, but I’m definitely going to be grounded if my mom comes in and sees her best and biggest kitchen completely covered in flour.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, that’s why we’re going to clean up this mess before any of that happens.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alya whined and would have thrown some of the flour sticking to her hair at him, if he wasn’t already covered from head to toe in the white dust. “That’s going to take forever! We should do something fun before we start cleaning since it’ll probably just become an even bigger mess then.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, this is my mess and I’m going to clean it up. I don’t want you to get in trouble for something that was my fault.” With that, Adrien picked up a broom from the side of the kitchen and began sweeping at the floor. He frowned, his brows knitting together, as he realized he’d eventually have to scoop the flour up with something.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Quietly getting up, Alya grabbed a dustpan and held it up at Adrien. “We can use this to scoop it up when you’re done. I’m not letting you clean this all up on your own, sunshine.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Adrien smiled back at her, if only a little bit weaker than before, and it really truly did feel like a ray of sunshine spattering across her face on a beautiful day. The sudden tension between them dissipated away almost as quickly as it had arrived.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Biting her lip nervously, she charged ahead and let the words roll off her tongue with feigned ease. “Listen, did you really think this mess was your fault? I mean, do you really think I </span>
  <em>
    <span>blame </span>
  </em>
  <span>you?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t look back up at her, just continued to sweep away at the floor, almost idly. “Well, yeah. Kind of. I mean, it was my fault, and I would never ever want you to get in trouble for another one of my stupid mistakes-”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Whoa, whoa, Adrien, calm down. Everything’s fine, you know that, right? The mess was worth it to see that startled look on your face. Besides, it’s not like this is the first time I’ve ever seen flour spilled all over a kitchen. You should try baking with Marinette. She’s probably the only person besides you who can manage to cover an entire kitchen in flour with a single misstep.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You sure it’s not a problem?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course not.” Alya smiled warmly at him, and he knew she meant it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It had only been a couple minutes later when the mood seemed to change drastically. Alya felt her heart drop as Adrien spoke, his words dripping with almost a hidden sorrow.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Wh-what does it feel like, you know, to get grounded?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She answered easily, her voice betraying her tumultuous emotions. “It’s not that bad. You come home straight after school for maybe a week or two; no aimlessly leaving the house or hanging out with friends. The biggest issue for me is that it’s much harder to get footage of akuma attacks that way, but most of the time they end up happening at or during school so it’s not a big deal.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. You’re right, that doesn’t sound that bad.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why are you really asking?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I’ve never been grounded before. I guess I was just curious?” Adrien said hesitantly. “I just- I wanted to know if it was any different.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Different from your usual life?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. I mean, sure I get to head out for photoshoots and things my father wants me to do, but it’s not the same. It’s either I’m stuck at home, lonely as ever, or I’m out working. Or I’m at school. Maybe that means I’m always grounded.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alya wasn’t sure what to say to comfort him, to stitch back up the gaping hole his words had opened in the room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry.” She finally said, and hoped it was enough.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I deal with it. And it’s not your fault, anyways.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s just another reason I stole you away today, you know?” Alya replied quietly, sweeping up the last of the flour into her dustpan. “It’s not just because I want to hang out with you, it’s because you </span>
  <em>
    <span>deserve </span>
  </em>
  <span>to have fun. Just as much as the rest of us. And maybe you are okay with not getting to see us that often. Maybe it just means you appreciate the time you do spend with us much more.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I just wanted to give you a chance for once. To be spontaneous, to try not to worry about what your dad might think of everything. And to just… accept mistakes as a part of life. It’s not your fault if you slip up every once in a while, Adrien. You’re only human. Maybe your father will be angry we left your photoshoot - I take full responsibility for that, by the way - and maybe he’ll take that out on you. But I don’t think that matters as much as whether or not you had fun today. If you enjoyed hanging out with me today, it doesn’t matter what he thinks.” Alya stared up at Adrien, who had an incredibly soft, happy smile spread across his face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What I’m trying to say is… mistakes aren’t all bad. Sometimes they can lead to beautiful things. Just take whatever happens in stride. Go with the flow, y’know?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I never really thought about it that way.” Adrien looked slightly shocked, his eyes wide with the sudden realization. “You’re absolutely right. Thank you, Alya. I think I really needed this.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s what friends are for.” Alya sidled up to his side, bumping her shoulder against his playfully. “So do you think you’ll be learning cooking with Marinette from now on?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah. She can teach me to bake if she wants, but I think I’ll keep spontaneously sneaking out to cook with you. Even if we don’t actually cook anything.” Adrien laughed genuinely.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be looking forward to it, sunshine.”</span>
</p>
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